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Recipe

Bone Broth

Stomach soothing bone broths form the foundation of many of our meals along with plenty of probiotic foods. Bone broth is a nourishing all rounder packed with vitamins, minerals, collagen and keratin which makes it amazing for skin – including the dreaded cellulite! The healthy fats in the broth help you to assimilate important vitamins including Vit D.

A generous splash of apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice (this can help to extract the minerals from the meat bones)

Introduction

Nutrient rich bone broth is at the heart of what we do. Full of flavour and deeply nourishing, broth (also known as stock) made from meat and fish bones has been used as a homemade remedy across cultures and, in our opinion, is the secret to a great-tasting soup. Simple to make, soothing and nourishing, bone broth is one of the oldest, most affordable homemade foods, often used to cure soothe and nurture the sick.

Click here to find out more about Bone Broth and why it is one of our key ingredients.

How To:

1. Place the bones and any additional ingredients into a large stainless steel cooking pot and cover with cold water. The water level should cover the bones by 5 cm whilst still leaving room at the top of the pan.

2. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, lid on, for at least 6 hours for chicken and 12 for beef or lamb, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. The longer the bones simmer, the more nutrients are released. We like to boil the chicken carcass for up to 12 hours until the bones begin to crumble and keep beef bones going for 24 hours until they look as if they were washed up on a beach.

3. Fresh chicken carcasses from the butcher usually have a fair amount of meat on them. We tend to poach the carcasses for 20 minutes, then pull off the meat (and save it for another meal like a chicken salad or chicken pho) before returning the carcasses to the pot and continuing to simmer to make broth.

4. Strain the liquid, using a fine mesh strainer for poultry. Use immediately or leave to cool before storing (preferably in glass/ceramic rather than plastic). Bone broth will keep in the fridge for several days or up to a week if you leave it undisturbed, as a layer of fat will form on the surface and keep it sealed from the air.

Notes:

You can also make Bone Broth using a slow-cooker. Just turn to high and cook for 12 hours or more.

Broth will happily keep in the fridge for up to a week. Divide your batch between 2 containers. This will allow you to use up one jar over the first few days while the second forms a fat layer which will keep it good for the second half of the week.

Small portions of Bone Broth are great for cooking up quinoa or braising vegetables and larger containers are great for making batches of soups, curries and stews.

Beef Bones produce a lot of nutritious fat – (skim some of it and save it for roasting vegetables). Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to three days or freeze the stock in a glass container.

Monica Perea

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Monica you can buy a whole chicken or legs/drumsticks etc and save the bones after cooking and eating the chicken and then boil the bones. If you go to a butcher you can buy the carcass and other bones such as beef bones. You can also order carcasses and bones from good butchers online. Try Riverford – there is a minimum order of £25 for a meat box but you can buy meat and freeze it and boil the carcasses when they arrive and then freeze the stock if you like or use within a week: http://www.riverford.co.uk/shop/meat/chicken-duck/chicken-stock-carcass-min-1kg

Shannon

With simmering the bones for 12 hours or more (you mentioned 24hrs for beef bones) I would imagine a huge decrease of liquid in the pan. Do you suggest leaving it as is, or supplementing with more water at any particular time?

Jasmine Hemsley

Yes top up the water levels to keep the bones covered! Use a lid to keep as much of the water in so that you don’t have to keep checking on it. With a slow cooker or pressure cooked no need to check on water levels. If it’s a chicken carcass you can crush it down after a while. Towards the end of cooking time you can let the broth reduce down according to how you like your both. Letting some water evaporate will result in a more concentrated broth which takes up less fridge/freezer space. Then when you use it just add more water to dilute. Hope that helps!

Catherine Cook

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Catherine – any glass container will do (or ceramic/stainless steel) as long as it’s not a very fine/fragile glass. We use thick Pyrex style dishes – allow the broth/food to cool completely before covering with cling wrap and make sure that the cling wrap doesn’t touch the broth/stew/soup/food etc. Some glass containers come with plastic clip-on lids which are very useful – again avoid the plastic touching and allow the broth/food to cool completely before covering.

Abby

Jasmine Hemsley

Use both! We always keep the bones after a roast – they go straight into a stock pot. We also pick up bones and carcasses every day from our local farmers market – or you can order in bulk if you have a big freezer. Look for reputable butchers and ask lots of questions!

K.k

Hello!
Do you know of a safe slow cooker? I want to avoid aluminium, plastics and Teflon.
I love your website and recipes. Just discovered you this morning, that’s only because I live in Copenhagen. Look forward to reading your cook book.

Jasmine Hemsley

Thanks Stephanie! How did you discover us? We recommend the Cuisinart slowcookers which look great and more importantly have a ceramic cooking pot, glass lid and stainless steel housing. The model we have also has a digital timer on it. Let us know how you get on!

About a month ago, I decided to cut out almost all grains from my diet and eat a mostly “paleo” or “ancestral” diet, including a daily cup of bone broth. After a week or so, I noticed my lips were getting fuller! I kept touching them and squinting in the mirror and asked my husband if I was imagining things. But he agreed that they were plumper. I’m guessing it’s probably the collagen at the work. Crazy! Also, a question–the grass fed beef rancher I bought my bones from told me I should cook the bone broth for 72 hours in the slow cooker, because most of the nutrients aren’t extracted until the last 24 hours. I also heard adding vinegar is an important step in extracting the nutrients, too. I’ve been doing that, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts about his suggestion? Thanks, and I’m so looking forward to my pre-ordered copy of your book here in the U.S.! 🙂

Jasmine Hemsley

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Erica
Thanks for your message and so glad to hear that you are experiencing such extra bonuses! Yes we add apple cider vinegar to the recipe in our – see the ‘optional’ in the ingredients list. We use both a slowcooker and pressure cooker to make our bone broth. We make several batches from both – using the first lot of liquid to make food or freezing it for another time – and then reboil the bones again for another batch. This is especially good with the beef bones you will notice that they keep on giving. Not only is this a wonderfully frugal way of getting more from your food it also ensures those extra nutrients. But for those who cannot cook for that length of time, the bone broth you get from a shorter cook is still a nutritious and affordable food. We’re looking forward to the launch of the US book. Not long to go now – and we’ll be arriving this time nest week if not before! Keep in touch – would love to know how your new way of eating is going and how the bone broth changes your life as it did ours! Jx

Amy

I’ve been trying out the different recipes in your book – and i’m loving them so far.
One of the ones i have yet to tackle is this one, but I have a query: can you use a mixture of different types of bones in one broth, as i noticed the cooking time varies? and i’m guessing the taste?

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Amy
Great to hear! Yes you can mix the bones – we do it every now and then if we have a small amount of different bones left over from different meals or if we have a client who is new to the stronger flavour of beef broth (my favourite broth) we do half and half with chicken and call it Cheef broth! You cannot cook a stock too long so don’t worry about the cooking time in this instance – preferably cook as long as the bigger bones needs – the smaller poultry bones will just break down or become very soft so just be sure to strain well to avoid crunching on any hard bits of bone inadvertently. J x

Marisa

Jasmine Hemsley

Ali

Hiya
Just in the process of making bone broth but in a pressure cooker. How long would you recommend – I’m using chicken bones?
Loving your recipes – I’ve made the gingerbread muffins today – delicious.

Jasmine Hemsley

We do 3 hours for both chicken bones and beef bones to make a good gelatinous broth in a pressure cooker. With the beef bones we usually simmer in the pressure cooker a second time as they have so much more to give!

Jasmine Hemsley

Yes strain off the first broth and store, refill with more fresh water to make the second broth – we usually use a little less water the second time round as it will be more of a diluted stock – just enough to cover and then another 3 hours in the pressure cooker to get out the last of the goodness!

JB

Excellent article. I’m delighted to have found your site. Here are some suggestions for sourcing raw material and understanding this topic.

I have been extremely interested for many years, in the provenance of food and how to obtain the optimal nutrition from natural, seasonal, grass-fed, humanely reared, wild food. I am a customer of the Story Group in Somerset, who provide excellent stock bags.

in which progressive West Country farmers extol the benefits to be derived from pasture, rainfall, sunshine and humus, accessed through bone broth.

We, and the stars and planets, are formed by all the elements in the periodic table. The best way to replenish those nutrients in our bodies, is by consuming, plant material, with deep roots, as well as grass-fed animal products. Bone broth must be the best and most accessible way to maintain our health. Keep up the great work of educating the yet to be converted.

Jasmine Hemsley

Thank you so much for taking the time to write and share – I’m sure many will benefit from your recommendations and thank you for your kind words. We don’t know Story Organic but will get in touch. Meanwhile we were lucky enough to judge at The Soil Association with Graham Harvey, the co-owner of Pasture Promise TV and we are big fans of Michael Pollen. J

Talula

This sounds great! So excited to have found your website. I read in the comments you sometimes use a pressure cooker, do you still cook the beef bones for 12-24 hours? Or is it less time? And do you use the same amount of water in the pressure cooker?

Hannah

Just want to say a HUGE congratulations on your book, website and everything you are doing! We used to model together about 7 years ago (remember Akris!) and we used to chat all day about cooking with coconut oil, quinoa and going to bed early (you may remember i used to go to bed at 8.30 or something crazy!!) You were so knowledgeable even back then 🙂

I am a pretty healthy cook and love cooking, but have been striving harder as have been ill now for a year 🙁 I AM LOVING the bone broth – i am hoping in some way it is going to heal my brain (i had a head injury)

Anyway just wanted to say your book is incredible, the recipes are inspiring (i am a little more than obsessed with the chia chia butternut breakfast pudding)…. Really i think the book is amazing, and i have a lot of cook books 🙂

Jasmine Hemsley

Caroline

Hi,
I noticed you said the bone broth will form a layer of fat on top when left in the fridge. I am wondering if I should remove the fat and just use the liquid, or if this would remove a lot of the nutrients? And if the fat should also be used, because I will be using bone broth a lot during the week is this not adding too much fat to food? I am enjoying learning about the art of eating!
Thanks, Caroline xx

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Caroline! If the bones are from a good source then the fat is very nutritious. A chicken that has roamed will not be as fatty as what has become the conventional way to farm chickens and we make sure that there is some of this nutritious fat distributed within the broth as we use it. Beef bones and lamb bones are much fattier – depending on which type of bones (e.g Marrow bones versus rib bones). We like to save most of the fat layer and keep in a jar for future stir fries and roasts – we love coconut oil and ghee but this is free and tasty too! When transitioning into eating more fat – or the right fat – go slowly so that your digestion can keep up. Enjoy! J xx

Hanna

Would love to cook this on a regular basis, it sounds ace!
A quick question though: You say that it’s okay to use the bones of a roast chicken for the broth-how about a whole one that’s been cooked about two hours with veggies for chicken soup? Are all the bones’ nutrients already in the soup/broth? Or could I use the bones again after the meat has been cut off?
Thank you so much!!

Jasmine Hemsley

Yes plenty of goodness still in them bones! Remember we simmer for at least 6 hours for chicken bones so after you’ve cooked the chicken for 2 hours and stripped the bones pop the carcass into a stock pot and make broth for sure. It won’t be as fatty or maybe as tasty as your soup as the soup would have gotten the best of the fat and flavours but you’ll still definitely get free nutrients and flavour from your broth. J x

Valeria

Hi! Love the bone broth! It comes in handy for everything; I even use it to make quinoa that’s tasty and extra-nutrient dense or throw a cube into the pot when reheating leftovers instead of using oil (or the microwave). I usually roast a chicken about once a week and put the bones in the freezer, then make the bone broth once a month. After it’s cooled, I put it into ice cube trays and then put the cubes in bags for easy access throughout the month following. I love your tip for using up the odds and ends of vegetables used as well. I think I’ll put another bag in the freezer next to the bones and save those up throughout the month as well. Love that your site is both frugal and healthy!

Jasmine Hemsley

Valeria you are a girl after our own hearts! Quinoa cooked with lots of onions and bone broth and finished with a sprinkle of sea salt is comfort dish we make often and jazz up wit dressings and veg. Have you tried it served with our kimchi and a dash of extra virgin olive oil – it’s incredible!

Jasmine Hemsley

Lucie

Hello!
I’m really looking forward to trying the broth – and reading all the comments above has been so helpful. I have one question though; as I live in an old draughty house, and have a gas oven, I’m a little wary of leaving things on the hob for hours on end – would it be as effective if I boiled the bones on the hob and then transferred it to the oven in a casserole? Advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Lucie xx

Jasmine Hemsley

Yes you can! We haven’t done it this way but many people do. You want your broth to just simmer so bring it up to the boil on the stove, cover with a lid and then put it into your oven preheated to around 100C (you can experiment with even less) and then let it simmer away. Make sure the lid is heat proof and tight fitting so that the broth doesn’t evaporate. The first few times you do this make sure you are home so that you can make adjustments to the heat rather than letting it go overnight or while you are out. Otherwise we really recommend a slow cooker – this will save you worry and energy bills! Good luck! Jx

Helen

Hi there trying bone broth for the first time using the carcass from a roast chicken. You mention poaching the chicken before if there is a lot of meat still on the bones. I’ve just carved my chicken and got most of the meat off but there is still some left. Is this ok or does the carcass have to be stripped of all meat? Thanks so much!

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Helen, Yes of course – some people make broth with lots of meat attached – very flavourful but more frugal to enjoy the meat rather than overcook it which is why we talk about saving the meat where possible. If you’ve carved off most then it’s good to go into the pot!

Gloria Kelley

As I’m reading this recipe on Pinterest I have a huge pot of pork bone broth on the stove. I can’t tell you how wonderful the house smells. I’ve been making my own broth for about 40 years and wouldn’t have it any other way. There is absolutely no comparison between home made chicken, lamb, beef or pork broth and the stuff in the can or box. They are nothing more than water, salt and chemicals. I make at least 5 quarts at a time so I can freeze it. I bought fancy Ball canning jars and freeze in those. I use the 2 cup jars for storing enough broth to make other soups with, the one cup jars for when I want quick noodle vegetable soup and the half cup jars for flavoring gravies, sauces, rice and whatever else requires just a little broth.
If you’ve never made your own bone broth go for it …you will never buy canned broth again.

mimi

I have purchased a lot of beef bones today from my local butcher to make some broth. I own a pressure cooker, however I was looking into purchasing a slow cooker. But I recently read about lead contamination in slow cookers. Is there a particular one that you recommend? Thank you.

Jasmine Hemsley

Cassie

hey! I just made a yummy batch of this today. I feel like i’m drinking so much fat…. haha! Is that normal? Do I need to try and get some of the fat out? it’s already in a big bowl so it would be hard to scrape away…. what should i do?

Jasmine Hemsley

Is it beef or lamb broth? These are usually much fattier than chicken broth. Allow it to cool in the fridge and it will be easy to remove some of the fat – store in a jar in the fridge for roasting/stirfries Jx

Nikki

Hi, just wondered if you can give me some advice about the bone broth…I haven’t made any yet but I’m keen to add it in to mine and my toddlers diets after reading all the benefits in your book! We live in northern thailand and we can’t find reputable sources of grass fed organic meat – I don’t really eat meat because of this. Do you think their is still benefits of making the broth even if they are not from guaranteed organic, clean sources? I think we can get wild chickens so maybe that would be a option.
Thanks for any advice 🙂 I love your first book and just pre ordered your second one already!! Can’t wait. Nikki

Vicky

Hi there- I have just bought your recipe book and am keen to get started on all the delicious things you have cooked up. I was wondering if you recommend a particular kind of pressure cooker (size, brand etc.) for making bone broth. I am a student so can’t really afford to keep a pan of broth simmering for 12 hours. Do you have any recommendations for a (reasonably priced) pressure cooker? Many thanks x

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Vicky, apart from some really old ones that we got from our Gran and our Mum we’ve only ever used the Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker, (which is a bit more on the expensive side unfortunately), so we wouldn’t want to recommend any others without trying them first…x

Jasmine Hemsley

Hi Louise, you can keep the chicken carcass in the fridge for about 2-3 days, depending on how fresh it is – but you can also freeze the carcass to keep it for longer, and have it ready to make your bone broth. We usually recommend that once you’ve made your stock you divide it into two glass jar – keep one for the first half of the week and the other for the second half. As long as the second jar of stock has an unbroken seal of fat on top of it, it will keep in the fridge for the second half of the week. I hope this helps – if you’re looking for more tips about Bone Broth take a look at this link: http://www.hemsleyandhemsley.com/bone-broth-tips-tricks-more/ x

jessica wolfson

I follow my my mum’s chicken bone broth recipe which is similar to yours although she slow cooks the broth in the oven all night , it comes out the most amazing deep golden colour, after straining the soup she covers the left over carcus in sea salt , pepper and olive oil and roasts until it is all golden and crispy , so tasty and nothing is wasted, the bones are even edible and crunchy at this stage!

Jasmine Hemsley

Yay! Yes freeze away – don’t overfill your container because liquid expands a lot when frozen. We tend to use stainless steel jugs, leaving 4 inches up top and then when cool cover with clingfilm. To defrost leave on your counter over night or during the day. Or you can defrost in the fridge where it will take a few days – you can easily heat from frozen too – just be sure to heat it thoroughly.

Jasmine Hemsley

ruth

Which would be your preference: pressure cooker or slow cooker? Obviously a pressure cooker will be quicker & use less energy, but do you think the result will be any less nutritious? is there anything to gain by choosing slow cooker over pressure cooker?

Emily

Jasmine Hemsley

Julie Campbell

Hello. Thanks for your great posts on Bone Broth Making. I began simmering my chicken bone broth (celery tops, onion, bay leaves, carrots) this afternoon around 1 and it is now 8 p.m. I just now read about adding an acid. I have fresh Meier Lemons and squeezed a juicy one in it and them put in the washed skin and pulp. Am I too late? Can lemon substitute for vinegar as an acidic agent?

Jasmine Hemsley

Yes beef broth bones are very fatty. We let beef and lamb broth cool and then skim most of the fat into a clean glass jar and store in the fridge as a cooking/roasting/sauteeing fat for tasty stirfries!

Teresa T

Hi! Just saw your cooking show on TV and started searching on the web for your recipes! Awesome and wholesome! I have a question about making bone broth. I was wondering if you need to blanch the raw bones before cooking them. If so, for how long?